August 14 – The Give and the Flow
Luke 6:38: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Sometimes, nothing flows into our lives and we keep losing things. Remember, for something to flow, somethings have to go! Often, our waters are cluttered with dirt, pollution, litter, rubbish, refuse and scum. In such waters, everything is cluttered and jammed. Dirt collects and nothing moves. Dirt gathers dirt, attracts more wickedness. Such waters eventually never receive anything good and the fish and water plants die in those waters. It is lifeless, empty and dead
Its waters are heavy and redundant. This represents people who are stingy, frugal, counting every paisa, never give, hold on, never share, and never reach out to others. Their lives are stagnant and give out a stench to the world.
Another water body gives and receives and is always flowing. Since it flows out, it keeps receiving fresh water from the mountains, making it waters sweet. The flow of give and take makes waves and currents. Out of this sparkle wonderful sporadic change wherever it divinely flows. The secret in life is giving and sharing. It is our antidote to stench and stagnation. The more we give out, we will also receive and become richer because we become part of the give and go of the divine flow.
Giving involves far more than money. Giving is a heart attitude that allows God’s grace to work in us to give unto others with a heart of love and compassion, not just money, but time, prayer, inviting someone for a meal, giving things to others, investing time with them, giving our time to do something to bless others. All that we do will be used to give greater glory to God. Our works are not in vain. Martin Luther said, I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given into God’s hands I still possess.” The more we tightly hold on to things, the more we squeeze them and hurt them to lose them. May we open our hands wide to give and then we will receive.
We don’t give because we are afraid of losing the little we have. However, Jesus assures us that whatever we have belongs to Him anyway and if we give it away, He will replace it according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.2 Cor. 9:8 that says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all things, at all times, you will have all that you need so you can abound in every good work.”
Here are a few good quotes on generosity:
Dr. Karl Menninger: “Money-giving is a good criterion of a person’s mental health. Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.”
Colonel Sanders: “There’s no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can’t do any business from there.”
HadaBejar: “The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.”
May the Lord work in us to be more giving, more caring, more generous and more loving. We will always receive the joy for our labor of giving and it will be measured to you.
Rita
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